Peace Prospects Brighten For U.s. And Russia

The magic of Christmas lingers. The hope for peace on Earth among people with whom God is pleased has carried over to this new year, and a calm mood has settled between the United States and Russia.

Mr. Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev delivered New Year's greetings, the former to the Russian people, the latter to the American people. Previously they had met in Geneva, where they saw each other as mortal human beings rather than as semidivine, omnipotent rulers.

Maybe it is only a frame of mind which has overcome some of our apprehensions about nuclear disaster. Nothing actually has changed in the world situation. Terrorism is still with us. Conflict is the norm in the Middle East, South Africa, and Central America. How can we speak of, or hope for, peace in a world where wars cannot end?

Perhaps we must be satisfied with the little wars as long as we can avoid the ultimate holocaust. Perhaps we must settle for Christ's suggestion that there will be wars and rumors of wars before this world ends.

I have just finished reading a book which supports the hope of avoiding the ultimate nuclear catastrophe. "Breaking With Moscow," by Arkady N. Shevchenko is the account of a high Soviet official's defection to the United States in April 1978.

Shevchenko tells about his career as a Russian diplomat and as an official at the United Nations, revealing what takes place in the Kremlin, in the minds of Soviet bureaucracy, and in the frightening business of espionage in the world.

Russia, writes Shevchenko, "cannot be erased from the Earth or removed from its position at the center of power in the modern world. The survival of mankind may depend upon temperate relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both possess unprecedented power to exterminate or to save humanity."

Author Shevchenko certainly is not sympathetic toward all the Soviets do, but he is realistic enough not to write them off as a lost cause. They are here to stay and the only hope for humanity is to learn to live together on this planet without commiting suicide, according to Shevchenko.

During what seems like a period of calm, the Soviets, as always, hope some day to surpass the United States and obtain world dominion. They expect to accomplish that without all-out war with the United States, depending rather upon little forays or wars here and there, now and then, to keep everybody on edge. They realize it will take a long, long time for their dreams to be fulfilled, but they are a long-suffering people who know how to wait and endure.

They expect no Communist revolution in the United States in the near future. "But they are patient," writes Shevchenko, "and take the long view. They wait and work toward a clear goal." He says it is "pure fiction" to suppose the Soviets have a "master plan" for conquering the world nations one by one. Their victory will come, they hope, through the development of human society. The process can be facilitated with a few conventional wars now and then, but they consider worldwide nuclear war "unthinkable."

They have too much respect for the power of the United States which could bring only destruction to millions of their own citizens through nuclear war. But they plan to use nuclear military might as a means of blackmailing certain small countries to obtain some of their objectives, which they want to reach without self-destruction.

It seems reasonable to say we should stop thinking of destroying our chief opponent and ourselves through nuclear war in order to save the world. If the Soviets can afford to be patient, so can we.

Because we have celebrated Christmas recently, we renew our courage because of the advent of a Prince of Peace. Our hope is based upon the conviction that neither principalities nor powers can separate us from the love of the Eternal.